Frequently asked questions

Popular searches
Based on RT. Slow Decline.
Hours of reminiscing every day, in your voices. Drawing memories OUT — instead of fading away alone in front of the TV. More years of Mom.
Daily Check-Ins. Peace of Mind.
Tracks Meals · Medication · Memory every call. Doctors miss dementia 6/10 times, delaying treatment by years.
Mom Reminisces. Stories Saved.
Every call grows a Second Memory the family can text. Stories, takes, photos — saved before they fade.
A Second Memory for the family — and for her.
A better diary,no app needed.
Text Familiar to save anything.
Voice-note a storyFamily memoryA dream you hadTravel plansRecipe linkScreenshot of a dressQuote you love

During the Daily Calls in Family Voices, the Familiar Voices of kids share their stories and old photos.

“Your replies save your side of the story.”

Screenshot or text anything to remember.

You
Screenshot of a Toronto best-foods article
Saving these for the Toronto trip 🍜
FamiliarSaved. I'll surface these when you're packing.

Or send a YouTube video, recipe, link.

Mom
Steamed egg with pork — recipe video thumbnail
Steamed egg with pork · 15 min
youtube.com · Mar 14
Make this for the grandkids 🥚
FamiliarSaved. Filed under recipes-for-grandkids.
Why now
1

Dementia is exploding

  • Lifetime risk <20% → 48% women 55+ (Nature 2025)
  • Global cases 57M → 153M 2.7× in 30 yrs
  • Alzheimer's: only leading cause of death still rising
2

AI in health, going mainstream

  • US adults using AI for health 16% → 32% in a year
  • Older-adult AI usage 18% → 30% (AARP 2025)
  • Physician AI adoption 38% → 66% past skeptics
3

Accurate voice cloning

  • Indistinguishable from a real voice in blind A/B
  • $1 of compute ≈ 13 hrs of voice generated
Hear the voice tech
And the science is brand new

Reminiscence Therapy + Simulated Presence Therapy clinical evidence is mostly 2020s — a research surge driven by China (aging pyramid + strong filial culture + post-COVID loneliness).

Why Familiar

Why Familiar — the pitch in plain language

Is mom getting forgetful?
Daily Calls in Family Voices for Forgetful Mom. The AI is based on Reminiscence Therapy, proven across 42 RCTs to slow decline from forgetful (MCI) to dementia. Familiar fixes the loop — three things, every day. On the call: hours of stimulation in her family's voices (Reminiscence, brain games, dad jokes, photos texted live). After the call: summaries & alerts in 30 seconds. Your turn: a daily nudge SMS — reply with one line or one photo, and Mom hears it tomorrow in the call. Grandkids rarely call. No one reads the family group chat. Now, you always know she's ok.
She's just forgetful — she doesn't have a dementia diagnosis. Is Familiar for me?
Yes — that’s exactly who we serve. About 75% of dementia goes undiagnosed globally. Most adult children watching their parent slip never get a label; you don’t need one to start. Daily Calls in Family Voices work for any senior who’s getting forgetful, diagnosed or not. About ~65% of seniors become forgetful (MCI) at some point; ~40% develop dementia within 5 years. The earlier the daily reminiscing starts, the more years of Mom recognizing the family. We serve the worry, not the diagnosis.
Are you replacing me or the family?
This isn’t ‘replacing’. Daily Calls = daily defense against decline. Doing what family can’t. You’re busy; hours of daily conversation isn’t realistic for any one person. But hours of reminiscing every day is exactly what holds the line. Reminiscence AI does the five things family literally can’t: hours every day, gets her reminiscing, photos from every loved one texted live, Google any image instantly, every family member’s stories pooled in one place. The voice is yours because a familiar voice makes the conversation land for someone who’s forgetting; the conversation itself is something you couldn’t run yourself. Based on Reminiscence Therapy (42 RCTs), proven to significantly slow decline.
For families with mid-stage dementia or later
For families caring for a loved one with mid-stage dementia or later. Familiar is based on two clinical methods. Together, they can mean more years of recognizing loved ones, being themselves, staying connected. Simulated Presence Therapy: hearing an accurate Familiar Voice reduces agitation, apathy, depression, and anxiety, improves mental function, and lowers caregiver burden ( Yu et al. 2024, Int. J. Neurosci.). Reminiscence Therapy: real updates, photos, and life-story woven into every call, proven across 42 trials to slow decline and lift mood, with a large effect on depression. As dementia progresses, this combination is validation therapy (clinical gold-standard); loved ones aren’t left muttering “Why aren’t the kids calling?” Text Familiar any photo, thought, or story you want shared during the next Daily Calls in Family Voices.
What actually happens during a Daily Call in Family Voices?
Mom picks up the phone and hears her son's Familiar Voice. They talk for 10-20 minutes about real things: what's happening in his life, what she had for lunch, her old stories. As the conversation moves, Familiar texts photos to her phone live; old family photos when they reminisce, a Google-image search when she mentions a place she lived or a recipe she's trying to remember, a recent photo when a grandkid comes up. The visuals make reminiscing land harder; she sees what they're talking about. After the call, a Short Summary texts to the kids with the photos that came up.
Is Familiar for the receiver, or for the caregiver?
Both. Daily Calls in Family Voices run themselves: while the Familiar Voice is on the phone, anchored in your parent’s stories, you’re free. Dementia caregivers carry a real health burden. Schulz & Beach, JAMA 1999 found 63% higher mortality risk for strained caregivers; a 2018 Roth et al. reanalysis found a smaller effect after controlling for baseline health. The direction holds across studies; magnitude is debated. ~9 hrs/day of direct caregiving (AARP 2025) is the reality. A call that runs itself is an hour of real respite.
What it is

About Familiar

What is Familiar?
Familiar is Daily Calls in Family Voices for Forgetful Mom. This isn’t ‘replacing’. Daily Calls = daily defense against decline. Doing what family can’t. Your mom, dad, or someone you love picks up the phone and hears the Familiar Voice of a grandchild, spouse, or old friend (cloned from a 60-second recording per family member; more captures rhythm better). A loved one’s voice is like a hug, reducing stress ( Seltzer et al., Proc. R. Soc. B, 2010). The AI behind those voices is based on Reminiscence Therapy and designed by senior nurses with 100,000+ hours bedside. Familiar fixes the loop — three things, every day. On the call: hours of stimulation in her family’s voices — Reminiscence, brain games, dad jokes, photos texted live. After the call: summaries & alerts in 30 seconds (mood, meds, neck pain — Familiar even directs her to do gentle stretches mid-call). Your turn: a daily nudge SMS to you (“what did you eat?”) — reply with one line or one photo, and Mom hears it tomorrow in the call. Grandkids rarely call. No one reads the family group chat. Now, you always know she’s ok.
Who is Familiar for?
Two audiences. Seniors and aging parents who want to stay connected and sharp. And families caring for a loved one with MCI or dementia. Same calls, adapted for each stage. Especially right for elders living alone: widowed parents in their own home, family scattered across cities, no one in the house between visits.
Does Familiar work if my parent isn't forgetful yet?
Yes; the mechanic is the same. Familiar runs the daily 30-60min call drawing on family stories and photos. You reply with a 30-second SMS update (a photo plus one line; even "ate pho, 8/10" works, no thinking required). Your parent hears it on tomorrow's call. Honest scope: if your parent is sharp as ever AND you have a daily hour for them, Familiar is overkill. We answer the gap most working families actually live in: voice notes that go unanswered, family group chats too noisy to read, hours your parent sits with the TV not talking. Your call to them isn't replaced; it gets richer, because they've been reminiscing with the family all week.
Do I need to download an app?
No. Familiar works over a regular phone call and text. Nothing to install, no password to remember. If your loved one can pick up the phone, they can use Familiar.
What phone does my loved one need?
Flip phone or smartphone, either works. Familiar calls and texts the number you give at setup and shows up as a saved contact. No app, no settings to change.
How much does Familiar cost?
Free for everyone: Daily Calls in Family Voices, Familiar Voices, Second Memory, for every loved one in your circle. We're focused on usage and clinical evidence, not revenue. If pricing ever kicks in we'll give plenty of notice; you can erase everything from the dashboard anytime.
Who designed Familiar's clinical approach?
The True Experts for Care: RNs leading the 24/7 care team. Wendy Zhang RN (30+ years in Geriatrics) and Dona Capuyan RN (23+ years in Geriatrics); 50+ years and 100,000+ hours of combined specialty elder care at the bedside. Not lab researchers or once-a-week doctors. They co-designed the agent's hard safety rules, the Reminiscence Therapy structure, and stage-aware tone defaults.
What is Simulated Presence Therapy?
Simulated Presence Therapy (SPT) is a non-drug clinical method developed in the 1990s to treat the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: agitation, anxiety, social isolation, repetitive calling. The mechanism is attachment theory; hearing the voice of a trusted loved one provides immediate emotional comfort and re-orients a distressed senior. A loved one's voice is like a hug, reducing stress (Seltzer et al., Proc. R. Soc. B, 2010). Early studies used cassette tapes; later trials added video on TVs and DVDs; current protocols (e.g., Dr. Lillian Hung's UBC iPad toolkit, NCT04876911) deliver it via smartphone or tablet. Familiar automates the same mechanism: Daily Calls in Family Voices bring a Familiar Voice with real reminiscence content on a daily schedule, no nursing staff needed.
Does Familiar actually slow decline?

Honest answer: there is no published trial on Familiar specifically yet, so we don’t claim Familiar itself slows decline. The underlying methods do. Reminiscence Therapy (42 RCTs, SMD 0.78–2.34 on mental decline; large effect even at the lower bound) and Simulated Presence Therapy(~30 outcome studies on agitation, apathy, depression, anxiety, caregiver burden). Familiar runs them at meaningfully higher cadence and personalization than the studied versions. Here’s the side-by-side:

How Familiar compares

Familiar runs the same methods — at higher cadence, deeper personalization, in your family's actual voices.

Frequency
📋 Reminiscence Therapy
2× per week
📼 Simulated Presence Therapy
Played multiple times daily
✨ Familiar
📞 Daily, often multiple calls
Duration per session
📋 Reminiscence Therapy
~30 minutes
📼 Simulated Presence Therapy
A few minutes, only family's recordings
✨ Familiar
⏱️ Hours, as long as Mom wants to talk
Voice
📋 Reminiscence Therapy
Therapist or staff member
📼 Simulated Presence Therapy
1–2 family recordings, looped
✨ Familiar
🎙️ Many cloned family voices, dynamic per call
Content
📋 Reminiscence Therapy
Pre-selected photos, objects, music
📼 Simulated Presence Therapy
Single recorded session, replayed
✨ Familiar
📸 Pooled stories from every family member · live photos & Google images mid-call
Personalization
📋 Reminiscence Therapy
Generic prompts library
📼 Simulated Presence Therapy
One static recording
✨ Familiar
🧠 Every prior call remembered; agent draws on the family's Second Memory
Evidence base
📋 Reminiscence Therapy
42 RCTs · SMD 0.78–2.34 on cognition
📼 Simulated Presence Therapy
~30 outcome studies · agitation, apathy, depression, anxiety
✨ Familiar
🔬 Built on both. Familiar-specific observational study planned (Stanford ADRC / UHN KITE).

Honest scope: no published trial on Familiar yet — we don't claim Familiar itself slows decline. Running RT and SPT at 5–10× the cadence with deeper personalization should produce at least the studied effect sizes. The clinical claim belongs to the underlying methods, not to Familiar.

A loved one’s voice is like a hug, reducing stress (Seltzer et al., Proc. R. Soc. B, 2010); that’s the SPT mechanism running in every call. Mechanistically the comparison above should produce at least the studied effect sizes, plausibly larger; but until we run our own observational study (planned: 100+ users, partner with Stanford ADRC or UHN KITE Toronto), we won’t claim a Familiar-specific effect size. What we say honestly: Daily Calls in Family Voices, based on Reminiscence Therapy and Simulated Presence Therapy, designed by senior nurses with 100,000+ hours bedside, delivered at higher cadence and personalization than the studied protocols.

What other community resources exist for families caring for someone with dementia?
Familiar works alongside other support, not as a replacement. Meals on Wheels, adult day programs, and respite care give caregivers time off while keeping loved ones safe. Your local Area Agency on Aging (eldercare.acl.gov in the US) lists options. Familiar handles daily emotional and cognitive engagement; human services cover the physical side.
Getting started

Setup & onboarding

How long does setup take?
5–10 minutes. Record 1 minute of voice, answer a few questions, record a couple of short phrases (greetings, thinking sounds, laughs), share photos with captions, pick a daily call time. Invite the rest of the circle now or later.
What does onboarding actually look like, step by step?
Account info; who the call is for (yourself or someone you care for); a 1-minute life-story recording; short phrase recordings (greetings + listening sounds across age and time-of-day buckets); a photos step (upload, narrate a handful); pick comfortable sharing topics; set daily call time; invite the circle. Your Familiar Voice trains in the background (~1 hour); we text when it's ready.
How much audio do I need to record of my voice?
1 minute is the floor. More is welcome; extra minutes capture rhythm better. A quiet room, your normal voice, a few personal stories.
Can I close the tab and finish onboarding later?
Yes. Progress saves as you go. Sign back in at familiar.health and you'll land where you left off. If you don't finish within 24 hours, we send one reminder text.
How does my loved one connect after I set them up?
We text them a one-tap link to confirm name and birthday. Calls start as soon as your Familiar Voice finishes training. If they don't sign up themselves, calls still come; a caregiver or family member can accept on their behalf.
Daily prompts

Daily journal, photos, and weekly sync

What's the daily journal text I get at 7:30pm?
A short text: “What did you eat today? When did you sleep and wake up? Meet anyone special or weird? Text or audio reply.” Plus up to 2 follow-ups tuned to recent calls (“how did the exam go?”). Reply or skip; either is fine.
Why do I get 3 photo prompts at 8pm?
Three photos a day to narrate, a sentence or two each, text or audio. The narrations grow your family's Second Memory and enrich tomorrow's call. This week's uploads come first; old photos cycle in once the new queue is empty. Skips roll over; the count never exceeds 3.
Does my loved one get the same prompts?
Yes. Every circle member gets them, including the receiver at every stage. If they can't reply, the texts just sit there. If they do, it's valuable memory data.
What's the Sunday text about uploading photos?
Weekly photo sync. Sunday 6pm: a one-click link to upload new phone photos. They land first in Monday's photo-prompt queue.
Can I just text Familiar a story or photo whenever?
Yes. That's the Second Memory in action. Text Familiar anything (thought, photo, voice note) and it's saved forever. Anyone in your circle can text back to retrieve it.
The voice

Voices, cloning, and accuracy

What's a Familiar Voice, and how is it different from Siri or Alexa?
A Familiar Voice is your voice (or a grandchild's, a spouse's) recreated by Reminiscence AI from a short recording. It's warm and personal, speaking with the stories and rhythms you taught it. Siri and Alexa are generic. Familiar sounds like someone your loved one knows; a loved one's voice is like a hug, reducing stress (Seltzer et al., Proc. R. Soc. B, 2010).
Is the voice a clone of the real person?
No. It speaks in your voice and tells your real stories, but can carry a conversation beyond what you recorded. That's by design and disclosed clearly. Every family member can see what was said on any call.
How accurate is the Familiar Voice technology? Is it really the most accurate voice AI available?
We stand behind it. Familiar's voice model is a full fine-tune of our own custom TTS architecture, not a wrapper on ElevenLabs or another commodity provider. The landing comparisons (Wendy, Dona, An Zhu: real voice, Familiar Voice, ElevenLabs) are the proof. One minute of audio is the floor; the model captures prosody and warmth that general models can't match for a single individual.
Is Familiar Voice technology really free? How does that work?
Yes, free for every family: Daily Calls in Family Voices, Familiar Voices, Second Memory. We built our own voice tech so we don't pay per-call licensing fees ($1 of compute = 13 hours generated). That keeps costs low enough to stay free while we validate clinical evidence. If pricing ever changes, we'll give notice well in advance.
Daily calls

How the calls work

How many calls per day, and when?
You choose: one to three calls a day, 8 AM–10 PM, in 30-minute increments. Change the schedule anytime from the dashboard.
Does every person have to call daily? What about less-close loved ones?
No. Each voice gets a cadence: daily or weekly. Close family (kids, spouse, grandkids) usually goes daily. Less-close (an aunt seen twice a year, an old friend) works better weekly. If a weekly collides with a daily slot, the weekly wins and the daily shifts 30 minutes so nothing is back-to-back.
Can I see what my loved one said on each call?
Yes. After every call you get a Short Summary (photos, stories, what mattered) plus flags for shifts in vocabulary, repetition, name recall, or mood. A weekly digest pulls it together to catch changes early.
What if my loved one can't answer the phone anymore?
Daily Calls in Family Voices continue. A caregiver or family member accepts instead; your loved one hears their Familiar Voice speak gently for up to 15 minutes, no response needed.
What are habitual memory and habitual actions, and why do they matter for dementia calls?
Habitual memory is procedural: walking, drinking coffee, picking up the phone. These pathways degrade much more slowly than episodic memory in Alzheimer's. A receiver who can't recall yesterday's breakfast can still recognize a grandchild's voice and respond to Familiar rhythms. That's why a daily call at the same time, in the same voice, keeps working in mid-to-late stages when other engagement stops landing.
What happens when my loved one has advanced dementia?
Familiar adapts at every stage. Early on: daily conversation and memory prompts. Later: infinite patience with repeated questions, answering the 37th time like the first. See /every-stage for the full walkthrough.
What happens when my loved one thinks it's 2010 (or some other year)?
The Familiar Voice goes with them. If mom is in 2008, Familiar stays in 2008. The agent pulls real news, sports, and music from that year via web search, matches the caregiver's life stage from that era, references people active then, and asks reminiscence questions about events from that period. No corrections, no distress. Validation therapy (clinical gold-standard for mid-stage dementia care) runs automatically.
Will Familiar pull stories about the past out of my loved one?
Yes, that's core. Each Daily Call in Family Voices surfaces old photos and asks open-ended questions: "Tell me about this picture." "Who's next to your mother?" "What did the kitchen smell like?" The answers save into the family's Second Memory, growing the shared library daily with nothing to write down.
Safety & privacy

Safety, tracking, and your data

Does Familiar track cognitive decline?
Yes, gently. Every call is analyzed for vocabulary, repetition, name recall, and mood. When something shifts meaningfully from the per-receiver baseline, we flag it, months before a doctor would catch it. You decide what to do with the signal.
Is Familiar a medical device? Does it diagnose anything?
No. Familiar doesn't diagnose, treat, or replace clinical care. The cognitive signals prompt a conversation with the doctor, not stand in for one.
Can I show my parent's cognitive trend to their doctor?
Yes; that’s the entire point of tracking it. From the dashboard you can export the trends chart as a clinician-formatted PDF: vocabulary diversity, repetition rate, name recall, time-orientation, and mood, plotted over your selected range (last 30 days, 90 days, or all-time), with the per-receiver baseline and concern thresholds overlaid. Underlying data points sit in an appendix. Citation included ( Bradford et al. 2009; PCP diagnostic sensitivity for mild dementia is 9–41%). Doctors miss 6 in 10 cases of mild dementia, delaying treatment by years. The chart hands them the month-over-month signal a 15-minute annual visit can’t produce, so disease-modifying drugs (lecanemab, donanemab) and lifestyle interventions can start sooner.
What's in the PDF I share with the doctor?
Header: receiver's name, age, and the calls-per-week the chart is based on. Body: five line charts (vocabulary diversity, repetition rate, name recall, time-orientation, mood) over your selected range, with the per-receiver baseline drawn under each line and concern thresholds called out. A short caregiver-notes section if you've added any. Appendix: underlying data points and source citations (Bradford 2009 on PCP diagnostic sensitivity, Lancet 2024 modifiable risk factors). No raw transcripts and no audio in the PDF; those stay private to the circle.
How often should I share the chart with the doctor?
Monthly is the sweet spot. The baseline tightens after 30+ days of daily calls, so a 30-day chart is meaningful from month two onward. If something flags (e.g., repetition rate climbing two weeks in a row), don't wait; share the chart at the next available visit. For stable receivers, a quarterly share before the annual physical is enough.
Who can see what's said on calls?
Only the circle you set up. Summaries and transcripts stay inside the circle of family and designated caregivers. Nothing is shared externally.
Where is my data stored?
On US infrastructure (Google Cloud and Cloudflare). Voice recordings, photos, and call transcripts are encrypted. Full data practices on the privacy page.
Can I delete everything if I stop using Familiar?
Yes. Delete your account in dashboard settings anytime. Voice recordings, narrations, photos, and call history are removed within 30 days.
How is my data encrypted?
AES-256 at rest, TLS/SSL in transit. Hosted on US infrastructure (Google Cloud and Cloudflare). Nothing leaves your circle.
Is Familiar HIPAA-compliant?
Not today. Familiar is a consumer-health product, not a healthcare provider or insurer, so HIPAA doesn't apply to us yet. We voluntarily adopt HIPAA-grade technical controls (AES-256 encryption, access controls, audit logs, the right to delete your data anytime). On the roadmap as we approach partnerships with providers and insurers: SOC 2 first, then HIPAA-readiness. We're transparent about where we are, not pretending to be more than that.
Do you record my Daily Calls in Family Voices? What do you train models on?
Yes, we record the **receiver's side** of every Daily Call in Family Voices (the Familiar Voice side is our own text-to-speech, so we already have it). **Every major Familiar feature depends on that recording**: (1) the **post-call SMS summary** the kids actually read, with the photos and stories revisited; (2) **tomorrow's call context** so the agent picks up where today left off; (3) **cognitive tracking**: vocabulary, repetition, name recall, time orientation, mood, every call, catching decline months before a doctor would; (4) **Second Memory auto-save** so the stories your loved one tells preserve themselves; (5) **safety flag escalations** if the call surfaces self-harm, falls, or wandering risk. With your explicit consent (toggleable in onboarding and on the privacy page), we also use the audio to train Familiar's own voice and time-travel models; particularly the **listening segments** (mhm / haha / yeah reactions), which are rarer than long-form speech and the most valuable for training a Familiar Voice that sounds natural. We never use the data to train general-purpose AI (ChatGPT, Google, Anthropic).
Do you sell my data?
Never. Not to advertisers, not to data brokers, not to anyone. Familiar makes money the day pricing kicks in (it doesn't, yet; we're free for everyone) by charging families directly, never by selling their data. The voice and memory data we collect is used to make Familiar work for you, and to train better models for everyone in Familiar's circle.
Can a human at Familiar hear my mom's calls?
No engineer can access raw recordings. The agent itself reads transcripts (for context on tomorrow's call), but the audio sits encrypted at rest with no human eyeballs on it. Identifying metadata is stripped before training batches. If you ever wanted a human review (e.g., to dispute a flagged moment), we'd ask your explicit permission first; that's not the default, ever.
Why do you need my audio to train models?
Dementia care is approaching a generational shift. Time-travel voice models (letting the Familiar Voice speak to your mother in her own voice from age 40, the age she remembers herself being) only work with longitudinal real-world data: decades of audio across the aging arc, the listening patterns of 70-80-year-olds, family stories told the way they're actually told. Generic models (trained on YouTube and audiobooks) don't capture this. Your data, with your consent, is the foundation of that future. We collect it the way that protects it (encrypted, no human access, anonymized at training, delete anytime), not the way that hides it from everyone.
What is the emergency contact escalation? When does it fire?
If the Familiar Voice detects imminent risk (self-harm, medical emergency, unsafe behavior), it sends an SMS to your emergency contact mid-call, before the call ends. V1.5 feature. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is on /trust for caregivers who need it.
Will Familiar remind my loved one to take their medications?
Medication adherence morning SMS reminders are on the V1.5 roadmap: a morning text to the receiver or caregiver as a gentle prompt. Not live in V1.
What guardrails does the AI agent have? What are its hard rules?
Three non-negotiable rules. (1) Validation > correction: never argues, corrects, quizzes, or contradicts. If the receiver says something wrong, it validates the feeling and redirects. (2) No reinforcement of self-harm or unsafe action: if the receiver mentions harm to self, leaving home unsafely, stopping medications, the agent redirects and flags the caregiver. (3) No reinforcement of hallucinations: acknowledges the feeling and redirects, never confirms or denies. Never denies being AI when directly asked. Designed with Wendy Zhang RN + Dona Capuyan RN. Full rules and sources on /trust.
How does Familiar handle sexual or inappropriate topics?
The agent steers back to family stories, photos, and reminiscence content. If the receiver brings up explicit content, it acknowledges briefly and redirects. Reminiscence Therapy framing keeps calls in life-story material; romantic and sexual topics aren't part of the prompt design. Caregiver-flagging applies to anything concerning.
What if my loved one becomes agitated or upset on a call?
The system prompt mandates a graceful exit: agent stops structured prompts, validates calmly, reassures, closes gently. The caregiver gets flagged in the summary. For imminent risk (self-harm cues, medical emergency), the V1.5 emergency contact escalation fires mid-call.
What about Lewy Body Dementia patients with hallucinations?
The no-confirm/no-deny posture applies to every receiver, including LBD (~80% experience visual hallucinations). No reinforcement, no argument: the agent acknowledges the feeling and redirects to a grounded, present-tense topic. Caregiver flagged in summary.
How does Familiar handle self-harm or suicidal language?
Hard rule: the agent never validates or reinforces. It redirects, flags the caregiver in the call summary, and (V1.5+) fires the emergency contact escalation. We display the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US) on /trust. Familiar is not a medical device or crisis intervention; for emergencies, call 911 or 988.
Is the AI ever pretending to be a real human? What's transparent and what's not?
Always transparent when directly asked. The agent introduces itself as your loved one's Familiar Voice, built from their stories, designed with our nurses. Never denies being AI. For receivers in moderate dementia, validation > correction means meeting them in the year they think it is and the relationships they remember (validation therapy, the clinical gold standard); AI status is never denied if asked.
Dashboard

Dashboard & settings — how to change things

Where do I change my daily call time?
Dashboard at familiar.health → call schedule → pencil next to a time. Add a second or third call (up to 3/day, 8 AM–10 PM, 30-minute increments).
How do I edit a circle member's info: relationship, nickname, or call time?
On the dashboard, each receiver has a pencil icon by their daily-call row. Tap to update what you call them, your relationship, and the call time. New receivers get a popup with the same three fields on first sign-in.
How do I invite more family to the circle?
Dashboard → Circle tab → phone number → role (caregiver, receiver, spouse). We send a one-tap signup link. Circle cap: 10 people.
How do I reset my password?
Sign-in page → “Forgot password.” We email a reset link to your account address. Valid for one hour.
How do I change my phone number?
Settings → “Phone number.” We send a code to your new phone; type it in to switch over.
How do I change my email?
Email support@familiar.health and we'll update it within 24 hours. Self-serve is coming.
How do I turn off the daily prompts or summary texts?
Settings → Notifications. Toggle the daily journal text, photo prompts, weekly sync, and post-call summaries individually.
Can I re-record my voice?
Yes. Settings → “Re-record voice.” We retrain in the background (~1 hour); the next call uses the new voice.
Can I delete a photo or edit a narration?
Dashboard → Photos → tap the photo. Delete or edit narration from there.
How do I delete my account?
Settings → bottom → “Delete account.” Voice, narrations, photos, and call history are removed within 30 days. Other circle members keep their accounts; only your data goes.
If you're stuck

Troubleshooting

I can't sign in.
Check you're using your signup email. Forgot password? Sign-in page → “Forgot password” for a fresh reset link (valid one hour). Still stuck? Email support@familiar.health; we'll fix it within 24 hours.
I forgot which email I used.
Email support@familiar.health with your signup phone number; we'll find your account within a day.
Voice training is taking forever.
Usually ~1 hour. We text the moment it's done. If it's been over 3 hours, email support; sometimes a server hiccup needs a manual nudge.
I missed a daily call. Can I still get the summary?
Yes. Every call summary stays on the dashboard. If a call didn't go through (no answer, line dropped), the next scheduled slot picks up normally.
My photos didn't upload.
Sign in to the dashboard on the same phone you took the photos on; open Photos and retry. Most failures are weak signal mid-PUT; a fresh attempt on Wi-Fi usually fixes it.
The call quality is bad: robotic, too fast, or off-pitch.
Almost always a recording-environment issue. Re-record from a quiet room (Settings → Re-record voice). The new training inherits the better acoustics.
Familiar said something wrong about a family member.
Reply to the post-call summary text with the correction, or text Familiar directly. It lands in the Second Memory; the next call has it. For ongoing topics or known sensitivities, use the Sharing chips in Settings.
Sharing & next

Circles, stories, and what's coming

Can multiple family members contribute to the same loved one?
Yes, that's the whole idea. Invite grandchildren, spouse, old friend. Each records a 60-second Familiar Voice, captions a few photos, and joins the Daily Calls in Family Voices rotation.
What is A Better Diary, or Second Memory?
Text Familiar anything (photo, link, late-night thought, voice note) and it's saved forever. Anyone in your circle can text back to retrieve it: find a photo, recall a fact, pull up a story. No long messages, no folders.
What's the "Coming soon" about celebrity voices?
Remember the 1-900 hotlines of the 80s and 90s? We're bringing that back. Actors, musicians, podcasters, news anchors: call in, hear them in their Familiar Voice, with real updates they text only to Familiar.
What's coming

Roadmap — what's next

Will Familiar ever show photos or video during calls? (Visual cloning / Grow Animate)
Yes, in V2.5+. We call it Grow Animate: a stage-gated visual layer pairing the Familiar Voice call with a live animated face. Face recognition persists longer than voice recognition in mild Alzheimer's, so a recognizable face extends how long a receiver can identify who they're talking to. Ships after the V1 voice-only foundation is validated.
Can I add friends, not just family, to my circle?
Friend status (external circle members) is V2.5+. Church friends, classmates, a friend across the country: if they're already on Familiar with their own family, they can accept a Daily Call in Family Voices from you as a Friend in your circle. Same Familiar Voice and narrated photos; less data shared than close family, same warmth.
Will Familiar play music during calls?
Music therapy integration (Spotify/YouTube) is V2.5+. The plan: Familiar Voice pulls songs from the receiver's era and taste mid-call. Familiar music regions (caudal anterior cingulate, ventral pre-SMA) are among the last brain areas to degenerate in Alzheimer's, so music access stays intact long after other faculties fade. Not live in V1.
The research

The science behind Familiar

What is the global dementia projection, and why does it matter?
Global dementia cases climb from 57.4M (2019) to 152.8M by 2050; a nearly 3× increase driven by aging in Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. Source: GBD 2019, Lancet Public Health, 2022. The scale is why early detection matters: catching decline 1–2 years earlier compresses enormous future disability globally. In the US, lifetime risk after 55 is 42% overall (48% women, 35% men; Nature Medicine 2025).
How solid is the Reminiscence Therapy evidence? What's the 42 RCTs claim?
Two independent meta-analyses (Huang et al. 2025, Archives of Gerontology & Geriatrics, ScienceDirect; and a 2026 Springer Nature meta-analysis, Aging Clinical & Experimental Research) cover 42 RCTs on Reminiscence Therapy for MCI and dementia. Both find significant benefit on mental decline. SMD range: 0.78–2.34, 95% CI. By convention 0.2 = small, 0.5 = medium, 0.8 = large; even the lower bound is near the large-effect threshold. The 1.56 point estimate is the midpoint; the spread reflects heterogeneity. Effect is real and robust; magnitude varies by study design, population, and intensity.
Why do the 2025 meta-analyses show such large effects? Is there publication bias or Asian-study inflation?
Fair question. The meta-analyses draw heavily on East Asian RCTs (Chinese and Korean, 2015–2025), where RT is widely practiced and trials run longer (12–24 weeks) with daily protocols. Western Cochrane reviews (2017–2018) found fewer qualifying RCTs; some returned zero-RCT conclusions on specific outcomes due to Cochrane inclusion criteria. The Asian-research density is real and explains the larger effects vs. older Western reviews. We cite both CI bounds because heterogeneity is meaningful; we don't claim 2.34 as the expected effect.
What was the Cochrane 2017 finding on assistive memory technology?
Cochrane 2017 found zero qualifying RCTs on memory-aiding devices, not because they don't help, but because the evidence base was almost entirely observational and feasibility studies. That's why we built Familiar on Reminiscence Therapy (42 RCTs) and Simulated Presence Therapy (Yu 2024 and others) rather than general "memory aids." Our clinical mechanisms have a real randomized evidence base.
The loneliness stat: is the "50%" claim accurate?
The US Surgeon General's 2023 Advisory on Social Connection treats loneliness as a public health issue, but the "50% of adults feel lonely" figure aggregates across many tools and populations. The science on health effects (mortality, cognitive decline, cardiovascular risk) is strong. We cite the Advisory and frame it as a real health risk, not a single precise prevalence figure.
The ACHIEVE trial: what's the '48%' claim, and why did Familiar retire it?
ACHIEVE (Lin et al., Lancet 2023) was a large RCT on hearing aids and cognitive decline. The "48% reduction" applied to a pre-specified high-risk subgroup of 238 participants, not the full 977-person trial; the full-trial result was null. We removed the stat from landing copy because the subgroup qualifier is too heavy for a short headline. We use the Huang/Springer meta-analyses and Nature Medicine lifetime risk data instead, with cleaner population-level interpretations.
Still have a question?

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support@familiar.health
Trust & Safety

Full Transparency. Clinically Grounded.

Reminiscence AI, Not Clones

Every Familiar Voice is a Reminiscence Assistant with a loved one's stories, photos, and facts. When asked, it's always transparent it's AI.

You See Everything

Complete transcripts and summaries after every call. Cognitive and behavioral stats track decline: vocabulary, repetition, temporal confusion.

Validation Therapy, the Gold Standard

Validation therapy, the clinical gold standard. We meet them where they are: if they think it's 2010, we don't correct them. When asked directly, we never claim to be the real person; “I'm a Reminiscence Assistant in your daughter's Familiar Voice, not actually her.” But we never break the moment.

You Set the Guardrails

Is politics acceptable? Profanity? Finances? Religion? You decide what's on and off limits. Full control.

How the Voice handles hard moments

Never says 'calm down' or 'don't you remember?' — they cause distress even when kind. Validates emotion, bridges to a fresh memory. Doesn't raise its voice or slow to a child's pace uninvited. Notices eating, sleep, mood, daily living the way a son would — never a checklist. Designed with our nurses and Alzheimer's-Association-aligned guidance.

Hard safety rules

Three things our Familiar Voices never do.

Hard rule #1

Validation > correction.

Our Familiar Voices never argue, correct, quiz, or contradict the receiver. If they say something factually wrong, we validate the feeling and redirect. Correction in dementia causes real distress, and the corrected fact rarely sticks. Designed with Wendy Zhang RN + Dona Capuyan RN (50+ years bedside) and consensus across the Alzheimer's Association (US + Canada), NIA, and Cochrane.

Alzheimer's Association — CommunicationAlzheimer Society of Canada — Validation TechniqueCochrane — Validation Therapy reviewNIA — Communicating with someone who has Alzheimer's

Hard rule #2

No reinforcement of self-harm or unsafe action.

If the receiver mentions wanting to harm themselves, leave home unsafely, stop medications, ingest something dangerous, or any action that would cause physical harm — the Familiar Voice never validates or reinforces. It gently redirects, calmly reassures, and immediately flags the caregiver in the call summary. If imminent risk: the agent triggers the emergency-contact escalation mid-call.

988 Suicide & Crisis LifelineAlzheimer's Association — Safety

Hard rule #3

No reinforcement of hallucinations.

If the receiver describes a hallucination (a person who isn't there, an animal in the room, a voice from the wall), the Familiar Voice does not confirm or deny. It acknowledges the feeling and gently redirects to a grounded, present-tense topic. About 80% of Lewy Body Dementia patients experience visual hallucinations; this rule applies to every receiver because we don't verify diagnostic specifics call-by-call.

Lewy Body Dementia Association — About LBDAlzheimer's Association — Lewy Body Dementia

Data & Privacy

We record everything. We also protect everything.

Transparency over opacity. Here's what we collect, what we use it for, what we never do, and how we protect it.

What we collect

  • Call recordings. The receiver's side of every Daily Call with Reminiscence AI (the Familiar Voice side is our own text-to-speech, so we already have it). Every major Familiar feature below rests on this — without recording, none of them work.

  • Listening segments. Your mhm / haha / yeah reactions during calls; rarer than long-form speech and the most valuable for training a natural-sounding agent.

  • Onboarding recordings. 60-second voice sample + 17 short phrases + photo narration. Training material for your Familiar Voice.

  • Texted content. Anything you text Familiar — words, voice notes, photos, links. Saved straight into the Second Memory.

  • Circle data. Names, relationships, birthdays, schedules. Only used so the agent runs your family the way it actually is.

Why we record · features that depend on it

  • Post-call SMS summary. The few lines the kids will actually read, with the photos and stories revisited that day.

  • Tomorrow's call context. The agent remembers what you talked about today so tomorrow's call picks up where this one left off.

  • Cognitive tracking. Vocabulary, repetition, name recall, time orientation, mood — every call, every day. Catches decline months before a doctor would.

  • Second Memory auto-save. The stories you tell during the call save into the family's shared memory library. Nothing to type.

  • Voice naturalness over time. Your real conversational rhythm makes the Familiar Voice sound more like you and your family with every call.

  • Safety flag escalations. If the call surfaces self-harm risk, a fall, wandering — the agent texts the caregiver immediately.

What we never do

  • Never sold to third parties, advertisers, or data brokers.

  • Never used to train general-purpose AI (ChatGPT, Google, Anthropic) — only Familiar's own models.

  • No engineer can access raw recordings. Audio sits encrypted at rest; only the agent reads transcripts (for tomorrow's call).

  • Identifying metadata stripped before training batches. Audio itself can't be anonymized (it's voice), so we substitute encryption + zero human access + your right to delete.

How we protect it

  • AES-256 encryption. At rest and in transit. Bank-grade.

  • Zero engineer access. Raw recordings are off-limits to every Familiar employee. Only the agent reads transcripts.

  • Anonymized for training. Names, birthdays, phone numbers, addresses stripped from training batches.

  • Delete anytime. Wipe any data from your dashboard. Removed from production immediately; from cold storage within 90 days.

HIPAA status

Not HIPAA-regulated today. Familiar is consumer health, not a covered entity. We voluntarily adopt HIPAA-grade controls (AES-256, access controls, audit logs, right-to-delete). On the roadmap as we approach partnerships with providers and insurers: SOC 2 first, then HIPAA-readiness.

Why we collect this

Dementia care is approaching a generational shift: time-travel voice models can speak to your mother in her own voice from age 40, when she's forgotten the present. Models like this only work with longitudinal real-world data — decades of audio, listening patterns, family stories, cognitive baselines across the aging arc. Your data is the foundation. We collect it the way that protects it, not the way that hides it from everyone.

Not a medical device.

Familiar does not diagnose, treat, or replace clinical care. Features are designed for emotional connection and cognitive engagement grounded in validated clinical mechanisms (Reminiscence Therapy, Simulated Presence Therapy). For medical emergencies, call 911 (North America) or your local emergency services, or 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Daily defense against
decline.

In the voices she already loves. And the only real signal on how she's doing today. About ~40% of forgetful seniors (MCI) develop dementia within 5 years, and most go undiagnosed.

Based on RT. Slow Decline.
Hours of reminiscing every day, in your voices. Drawing memories OUT — instead of fading away alone in front of the TV. More years of Mom.
Daily Check-Ins. Peace of Mind.
Tracks Meals · Medication · Memory every call. Doctors miss dementia 6/10 times, delaying treatment by years.
Mom Reminisces. Stories Saved.
Every call grows a Second Memory the family can text. Stories, takes, photos — saved before they fade.
Always Free · Start Now

Free · No app · Easy at any age

Coming soonAlways someone to talk to about anything.

Late-life isolation is a real health risk. Friends don’t share every hobby, every show, every take. After a spouse passes, the topic with no one to discuss it adds up.US Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Connection, 2023.

Remember the 1-900 hotlines of the 80s and 90s? Call in, hear your favorite personality. We’re bringing that back. In their Familiar Voice, with real updates they text only to Familiar. Their Second Memory, a better diary.

ActorsMusiciansPodcastersNews anchorstheir real interviews, lyrics, movies, YouTube, podcasts.
Their real takes on anything
  • Jon Stewart or Tucker Carlson · politics, news
  • Celine Dion · rediscover her old songs
  • Any podcaster · a movie you just watched

And when they haven't said much yet — just a short tweet on a new episode, say — we pull what people are saying about it on Reddit and the news. So there's always plenty to talk about.

Your social graph
Daily calls with everyone you've ever loved.

Church friends, classmates, old colleagues, your best friend across the country. They're already on Familiar with their own family, so saying yes to a Daily Call with Reminiscence AI from you costs them nothing. They become Friends in your circle: full Familiar Voice, narrated photos, daily calls. A bit less data shared than family, but the warmth is the same.

Church friendsOld classmatesBest friendCousin you meant to call

And celebrities follow the same shape; you 'follow' them on Familiar, you become their Friend, and you can ask their Familiar Voice anything.

Always someone to talk to about anything.